Michael Sean Wright

Immediately after signing on to direct a weekly syndicated motor sports television series, Michael Sean Wright asked his producer to arrange an on-camera interview with Marvel Universe creator, Stan Lee. “I knew that at the heart of any story, whether it’s action, drama, mystery or any other genre, is the development of the character’s voice, and the man who taught me about voice was Stan Lee,” states Wright.

a nicefishfilms interview With Stan Lee

Stretching the audience and, at times, the industry is something that the writer-director is proud of. “Life is a mystery, a journey with unexpected turns and exhilarating ‘A-HA!’ moments. Robert Altman taught me that the best film is the unedited dailies. Altman felt you lost a lot through the editing down of the raw material. I feel that you are supposed to show the idea of the scene and the feeling of the characters using the fewest words possible. So, to me, editing a well planned scene can actually bring the viewer into a deeper relationship with the work than just relying on Cinéma vérité alone,” concludes Wright.

Rhythm is at the heart of all creative compositions for Wright. It seems fitting then that his career started in Chicago as an on-air personality at a 50,000 watt rock station. The format of the station allowed him to discover a wide variety of genres that would influence his own pace. Wright’s true delight came from sharing the discoveries with his audience. From radio, Wright was drafted into the record business as an A & R rep for the leading independent label, Frontline Music Group. While at Frontline, Wright signed acts that ran the gamut from Bluegrass to Hard-Core Rap. “I never felt restricted to one genre, I just signed what felt real to me,” continues Wright. Music serves to stimulate the creative nature of Wright who, in 1993, began to visually interpret and express himself through graphic arts, photography and film.

Today, Wright is utilizing technologies to move us closer in conversation.

A Michael Sean Wright Backstory

I grew up outside of Chicago (shikahGoh), entered radio to provide the necessary means for Medical School. I dropped out to pursue a life of inspired creative work. Along the way, I’ve had the good fortune to collaborate with some truly great artists and a few profane imposters.

It was in Chicago that I first entered the mine field known as mass media. As a child, I fell asleep night after night listening to the giant voices on WLS. The voices boomed in my head and, like a little nut job, I would practice being “ON THE AIR.” I built my own broadcast booth with a microphone and mixer from Radio Shack. I loved learning everything I could about the artists and the music from Top 40, Rock and Oldies.

I caught my “big” break when I brought my demo tape into WAUR, the 50,000-watt station right outside the city. I waited for my interview in the downstairs reception area. I grew a little concerned when two hours had passed and the GM still hadn’t called me up to his office. Perhaps, if I hadn’t been so eager to get my foot in the door, I would have been freaked out by the Police activity and loud noises coming from the upstairs broadcast area.

When I finally made it into the GM’s office, he asked me for my tape and placed it in his stereo. The tape was horrible. He listened for approximately four seconds, ejected it and handed it back to me.

I was crushed.

But, then he spoke. “I guess you heard what happened this morning here?” Actually, I hadn’t listened to the radio that morning. I was rehearsing the interview in the car on the way there. He informed me that their morning guy had a mental breakdown or something close to it. He had barricaded himself in the studio with boards nailed to the door and wasn’t going to come out until the Cubs won the World Series. Needless to say, there was an immediate opening and he asked if I could start that night.

After nearly ten years in radio, I was drafted into the record business and started working closely with a group of artists that would profoundly change my life. Together, we ran wildly, broke down major barriers and created little pieces of art that I’m proud of. I’m still friends with most of those artists. I count them as teachers and fellow explorers of this wild artistic life.

From the music business, I dove into the visual arts world and have been learning how to communicate through film and photography ever since.

“The past is the past. The present is a present.” Michael Sean Wright

My chosen concentration is work that is documentary in nature. Whether as a full-length feature or television, I desire to explore the form and bring my own aesthetic to the story of life. All I know is where my imagination has taken me so far.